The Love Contract
by Kml224
Summary: Things are going well with Callie and her girlfriend until a request to declare their relationship on paper makes Callie think about Arizona. Part of the Tumblr '50 ways to reunite Calzona' challenge
1. Chapter 1

**The Love Contract by kml224 [part of the Tumblr 50 ways to reunite calzona challenge]**

"Doctor Torres, please come see me in my office when you get a chance" Chief Bailey stood at the door of the attending lounge

Callie looked up distractedly. She was reviewing an operating plan for a surgery later that day.

"What?" she asked, looking blankly at Bailey.

Miranda Bailey looked at the other attendings in the room before repeating her request "Come see me sometime today".

Callie shrugged "sure, I can see you at 12? I should be finished my rounds by then"

Bailey nodded and left the room.

Callie felt eyes on her and looked at the other occupants of the room, Karev and Maggie.

"Ooh Torres has to go to the principal's office, what did you do now?" Alex taunted.

"Shut up, I didn't do anything. Did I? Not that I can think of" Callie pondered aloud.

"Maybe your girlfriend is causing more drama "Alex suggested as he finished signing off charts.

Callie gave him a deadly look.

"Too soon? We are not joking about her yet? Come on, it's been a couple of months" he joked.

The deadly stare did not waver. He looked at Maggie, who quickly rose and averted her gaze

"Uh uh, I have to put up with enough tension at home and the car pool, not doing it here" she quickly left the room.

The awkward silence left in her wake was broken by the sound of a pager. Alex was never so happy to hear that sound and after a muttered apology, hurried off, not meeting Callie's eyes.

Callie sighed heavily as the door closed. It had been 2 months. Two months since her girlfriend Penny started working at Grey Sloan memorial. After a very rocky few days, Penny had hit her stride and found her voice. Though they would never be friends, Meredith and Amelia had risen above their initial anger and hostility and replaced it with a cool professionalism. They would teach her but that was about it. As Meredith had told Callie, they were forced to put up with her at work, but outside of work they did not want her in their personal lives. She wasn't trying to be mean and asked Callie to see it from her point of view. Rightly or wrongly she couldn't help but think of the worst day of her life when she looked at Penny. She had lost the love of her life. She was grieving. Maybe in time but not right now. She didn't ask Callie to choose between friendship and love, or whatever it was Callie had with Penny, but she hoped Callie understood her refusal to socialise with them outside of work.

And Callie did understand. Meredith was heartbroken. Callie imagined herself in that position. What if it had been Arizona, not Derek, that had died under Penny's care? While understanding that it wasn't her fault, the memory would always be there.

Callie missed the friendship. Apart from Penny, she had no-one to talk to about her personal stuff, apart from Penny of course, but what about when she needed to talk about Penny?

Bailey just raised her hand when Callie had tried to start a conversation "I don't do personal, woman. How many times do I have to tell you? "

She had Owen but really, asking Owen for relationship advice was like asking a Buddhist which was the best assault rifle on the market. He was pretty clueless when it came to relationships.

Amelia wasn't speaking to her, Maggie and Alex were too close to Meredith to want to get involved, she wasn't that close to April, who to be fair took Penny under her wing but both she and Jackson were going through their own troubles.

That left Arizona. She had been surprising in the initial aftermath of the dinner party. Penny sang her praises, saying how nice Arizona was to her, helping her out when she could. Callie smiled at that. She had told her Arizona was great and knew Arizona was an excellent mentor and teacher. Whenever she was on Arizona's service, Penny would enthuse to Callie how much she learned.

But again, that was their only real interactions, inside at work. Arizona only talked about Sofia when she and Callie met. Arizona remained friendly but Callie sensed she was holding back. Her cheerful manner with Callie was the same one she used on colleagues or people she didn't know that well and it irritated Callie that she got the same treatment. Didn't she mean more to Arizona? The only time the cheerfulness fell was last week when Callie told Arizona she was going to take Sofia out to dinner to meet Penny. She didn't want to rush things, certainly not after her last few disastrous relationships but she wanted Penny to spend a lot more time in her place, not just when Sofia wasn't there. She needed Sofia to be comfortable around Penny if the woman was going to be spending so much time in their home. For a brief moment she saw a raw pain flash on that flawless face she had loved, before it was quickly covered up with a smile that did not quite reach her eyes Thinking about Arizona made her sad. She wished so many things could be different. With one last sigh, she headed off on rounds.

"Come in " Bailey shouted hearing the knock on her office door. Callie came in and sat across from her.

"I have surgery in 30 minutes, will this take long?" she asked her boss

"No, not all" Bailey said before clearing her throat and shuffling some papers on her desk.

"I hate this part of my job" she muttered before making eye contact with Callie.

Callie swallowed and stuttered "Oh My God, are you firing me?"

Bailey gave her a look of disgust " Torres, don't be so dramatic. The reason I hate this part of the job is because I don't do personal but now thanks to you I have to do this personal stuff and I don't like it one bit"

Callie continued to look confused.

Bailey huffed and said "As you know we have a no fraternisation policy in this hospital between superiors and subordinates. As you and Doctor Blake are now openly engaged in a romantic relationship It is my duty to inform you that you are breaking hospital policy"

She raised her hand as Callie started to interrupt "I'm not finished. Outside of here you can do what you like but if you remain in a relationship with Doctor Blake, both of you must complete this form for HR indicating the status of your relationship and your commitment that it will not interfere your working relationship".

"But Penny is not on my service, I haven't worked with her" Callie protested.

"But you will have to Torres, she will have to do an ortho rotation. You are head of Ortho and I don't need to remind you , you are also a member of the board so technically you are her boss. Sign the damn papers , both of you, so I can forget about this and concentrate on medicine" Bailey thrust the papers at Callie before dismissing her with a nod.

—–

Callie grabbed a booth at Joes after ordering a drink. She was meeting Penny, Alex and Jo after a long shift . There was no sign of the others so she took the opportunity to glance though the papers Bailey had given her.

"Hi hon, sorry I'm late" she looked up and smiled as Penny slid in to the booth beside. Callie leaned towards her and share a soft kiss before Alex and Jo noisily slid into the booth across from them. Seeing the papers, Alex recognised the forms and laughed loudly " Oh man Torres, how ironic you have to sign a love contract"

"A love contract?" Penny asked, looking around the table.

"Yes if you are in a relationship with someone in a higher position than you, you both have to declare that relationship, for ethical reasons and to save the hospital a laws suit if things go bad." Jo explained.

"I've never heard of one before. Why is it ironic Callie has to sign one?" Penny asked Alex.

Before Callie or Jo could stop him, Alex blurted out "because Robbins is the reason that policy is in place, and Torres too"

Callie groaned and rubbed her face with a weary hand. Looking at Penny she said "we can talk about it later. I feel like a tequila night"

Penny nodded her acceptance, she knew Callie would tell her later and was excited that their relationship was heading for a more committed status.

Several hours and many tequilas later, the foursome were laughing at another anecdote Callie and Alex were telling about their own days as residents.

Having heard about all the hook ups at the hospital, Penny was stunned. Her last hospital had been nothing like this "Sounds like everyone has hooked up at this place. Are there any people in your group who have hooked up that I should know about?" she asked jokingly, but despite her merry state she did not miss the awkward look between Callie and Alex

"Nooo, you two as well?" she couldn't believe it.

"We'll talk about that later "Callie said before downing another shot.

She could kill Alex and his big mouth, thanks to him, she had a lot of things to tell Penny, things she'd rather forget about. A loud burst of laughter from a group entering the bar distracted her. She saw Nathan and April and DeLuca and waved them over to their booth.

"Hey guys, why don't you join us? Are you only coming out now?"

The trio laughed, Nathan replying" coming out is the right word. We've just come from a lesbian bar". Seeing the raised eyebrows of Callie and Penny, he held up his hands "no offence ladies. We were there with Robbins"

At the perplexed looks of the foursome in front of her April clarified "We worked on a case together today and decided to go for a few drinks. Arizona won the coin toss and picked the bar" she continued laughing "It was awesome, they even had a fire eater performing".

"Oooh is that Chick Flicks, on 4th?" Callie asked, remembering several nights out with Arizona there.

"Yes!" April said enthusiastically and Callie laughed, seeing her wife's mannerisms rubbing off on April. Her ex-wife's mannerisms. Shit, she'd better stop drinking, her brain was turning to mush.

"Where is Robbins?" Karev asked, searching the bar for his former mentor.

"Oh, she got lucky at the bar. They were lining up for her" Nathan shouted, oblivious to the tension that his remarks had caused as he headed to the bar for more drinks.

Callie's smile remained plastered on her face. Of course they were lining up for Arizona. She deserved to meet someone. She smiled reassuringly at Penny and put her arm around her, though her mind was racing with images of someone putting their arm around Arizona.

"More tequila" she shouted, ignoring Penny's questioning look.

"Callie, I thought we were heading home after that last one" Penny asked.

"It would be rude to leave without having a drink with these guys" she said gesturing towards DeLuca and April. Suddenly she wanted her brain to turn to mush, to blank out all these images of Arizona in her head.


	2. Chapter 2

The following morning, Callie was sipping coffee at the coffee dock when she saw Arizona approaching. Her ex-wife had not seen her yet and Callie took the time to admire her. She was wearing her hair long and loose, her natural curls evidence that Arizona did not have time to straighten her hair into the more professional style she usually wore. Callie loved her hair like that though she preferred it a bit shorter so it framed her perfect face. Arizona was wearing a black jacket, with a blue low cut top underneath, skinny jeans and knee high boots. Callie gulped, accidentally sending some coffee into her airway. Through her fit of violent coughing, she felt soothing pats on her back and from the smell of familiar jasmine perfume knew it was her ex-wife coming to her aid. Handing her a napkin, her blue eyes filled with concern, she left her hand on Callie's back, asking "are you okay Callie?"

Callie nodded and wiped her watery eyes, cleared her throat several times before responding "fine, just went down the wrong way thanks "

Arizona nodded and removed her hand, Callie immediately missed the warmth of her touch.

Bending down Arizona picked up some papers that Callie had dropped during her coughing fit.

Arizona's face fell as she read the heading on the forms and saw the names Calliope Torres and Penelope Blake typed in neatly. She quickly masked her feeling with a small smile, handing the papers back to Callie "Here you go, um , see you later" she shoved the papers towards Callie but before she could turn away Callie had grasped her wrist

" Arizona" she whispered

Callie has seen Arizona's reaction to the papers and her heart constricted at the hurt that flashed across Arizona's face. She hated seeing that hurt, she felt guilty, she never wanted to see that hurt on Arizona's face.

"What Callie?" Arizona asked, her tone challenging.

Not knowing what to say Callie blurted out " I hear you had a date last night".

"What?" Arizona shook her head, where did that come from?

"We uh, we met April and Andrew and Nathan in Joes last night. They said you met someone. I'm glad. I wasn't sure if you were seeing anyone" Callie said softly

Arizona just shook her head laughing sadly " No I'm not seeing anyone Callie. I met a few people last night but to be honest, I've been out of the dating game so long, I was a disaster"

Callie gave her a look full of sympathy before frowning "what do you mean you've been out of the game so long? Haven't you been with people since we divorced?"

Shaking her head again, Arizona took a deep breath before admitting " No Callie, I uh, I haven't been with anyone since we broke up"

Callie was stunned. She assumed Arizona was dating, nothing serious, but she thought she must have been. She knew how passionate Arizona was and how much she enjoyed sex. To think she hadn't been with anyone at all in two years astounded Callie.

"Arizona, I don't know what to say. Why not, why haven't you been with anyone?" She prodded.

Arizona just shook her head again "my heart isn't in it Calliope" she turned and quickly walked away, leaving Callie to stare open mouthed at her retreating back.

"Callie, its Penny. We are meeting HR to sign those papers at 3 O'clock, in conference room 5A"

Callie listened to her voicemail as she changed out of her scrubs after a routine surgery. Checking the time, she saw she had a half hour to grab a bite to eat before the meeting.

She decided to get her delayed lunch for takeaway and headed to Conference room 5A.

Of course it would be the conference room located on the Peds/foetal surgery floor. Unfortunately that's where the HR offices were also located.

Getting off the elevator she noticed Bailey standing in the corridor with a huge smile on her face as she observed something in an exam room. Intrigued by what could possibly make the usual dour expression of Bailey light up she wandered over to her, "What's got you so happy?"

Bailey looked at Callie and nodded towards the room in front of her.

Callie gasped and held her breath as she saw Arizona, the most joyful smile lighting up her face, her blue eyes sparkling. Arizona was holding a baby up in front her, talking baby gibberish as the baby, who couldn't be more than a year old, stared back at her giggling and trying to grab the dimpled cheeks in front of him.

Swallowing the huge lump of emotion constricting her throat she asked Bailey "Who is that?"

"That is the result of the first foetal surgery Arizona performed on her own, while Herman was being operated on. He's here for a check-up and his mom wanted to see Arizona, she saved his life, both their lives. Without that foetal surgery he would never have made it" Miranda said proudly.

Callie looked at the baby and his mother. This was because of the fellowship, the fellowship that helped end their marriage. She put a hand to her mouth. If Arizona had turned down that fellowship like Callie had initially wanted that baby and so many others would not be alive. She was in awe of Arizona's expertise. Her teary eyes met Arizona's and Callie couldn't help but think of the baby she lost. How did Arizona do it, work with babies every single day and not think of their own one? Again, Arizona's strength amazed her. A broken sob escaped her lips and she turned and ran to the nearest on call room.

Arizona had been surprised to see Callie standing there and even more surprised when the brunette sobbed and ran away "What the hell?" she thought, concerned and frightened "had something happened Sofia?"

Gently handing the baby back to his mother she left the room apologising before following Callie. "What's going on Miranda?" she asked as she ran past Bailey.

A bewildered Bailey shook her head "I have no idea, she went into that on call room".

Arizona stopped outside the room unsure whether to give Callie her privacy but the sound of heavy sobbing propelled her forward. She could never bear to hear Callie crying. It broke her heart. Callie stood leaning over a table as tears rand down her cheeks.

"Callie, what's wrong?" Arizona asked as she cautiously approached her.

Shaking her head Callie only sobbed harder.

Arizona reached out and pulled Callie by the shoulders, turning her until the brunette wrapped her arms around Arizona's shoulders and cried, burying her face into Arizona's neck.

Holding Callie in her arms, Arizona was at a loss. She rubbed her back soothingly and couldn't resist planting a little kiss to Callie's temple.

As Callie's sobs quietened, Arizona started to pull back only to feel Callie tighten her grip.

"Callie, sweetheart, what's wrong? Has something happened?" Arizona did not notice the term of affection that fell naturally from her lips. But Callie did. She squeezed Arizona briefly before pulling back and looking at her, seeing the unmistakable love and concern in her eyes.

"Nothing is wrong, everything is wrong. You were holding that baby and I … I .. it should be our baby you are holding. We lost him, we lost our baby and then we lost each other. And you… you… I can't "

"Oh Callie" Arizona whispered, felling her pain. She seldom thought of her miscarriage. She couldn't, if she did she would not be able to function, to help all these other tiny humans, so she didn't think about their own tiny human.

She pressed her forehead to Callie's in sympathy and closed her eyes. They stayed in that embrace for a few minutes, until Callie's tears dried. Arizona opened her eyes to see beautiful brown eyes staring intently at her. She saw that gaze drop to her lips and darken when she moistened them with a flick of her tongue. Suddenly those lips were pressed against hers, ravaging her mouth as hands gripped her hair, her own hands cupping Callie's face as tongues probed and plundered. Hearing her own groan escape, Arizona wrenched herself away from Callie

"Callie No, we have to stop, you can't…Penny" she said breathlessly watching the guilt replace the lust in Callie's eyes.

"Oh God, I'm sorry. I need …..Penny.. I need " Callie covered her face with her hands.

Arizona couldn't believe it. Why had she let this happen? She turned and marched out of the room, not able to bear the thought of Callie talking about Penny.

Arizona managed to avoid Callie for the remainder of the day. She had two missed calls from her and a few text messages asking to talk. She couldn't do it, listen to Callie tell her she wanted more for her and they wouldn't work, again. She barely survived it the last time.

There was no sign of Callie the following day and no more messages. "Well, she gave up quickly" she thought and frowned when she heard a voicemail from HR asking to meet conference room 5A that afternoon. No mention of why. "That's strange " she thought but before she could wonder about it anymore, she was paged for her surgery.

"Sorry I'm late" Arizona puffed as she entered conference room 5A. She came to a quick halt when she saw the room was only occupied by Callie. Looking around in confusion , she asked "What's going on Callie?" . Her eyes widened as she came to a realisation "Oh My God, did you report me for kissing you yesterday, are you claiming I harassed you?"

"What? NO! Arizona, no, of course not, please sit down" Callie pleaded.

Arizona threw herself into the nearest seat, perplexed by what was going. Callie sat in the chair beside her, placing some papers in front of her.

"What are these?" Arizona asked, reaching for them. Callie grabbed her hands before she could touch the papers and turned Arizona to face her.

"That's a love contract" Callie said solemnly looking at Arizona.

Shaking her head Arizona whispered "Why are you doing this to me Callie, I know you and Penny have signed it, I know .."

"No, we didn't." Arizona's eyes widened at Callie's words, her heart racing

"Because Penny wouldn't? Oh Callie, do you want me to talk to her, tell her it was my fault." Arizona reluctantly offered, having no desire to talk to Callie's girlfriend.

"Arizona, can you listen to me for one minute, please," Callie asked and continued when she received a nod for Arizona.

"I broke up with Penny. This is a love contract for us. I love you. I never stopped loving you, I thought I was doing the right thing walking away, I had to Arizona, for me, for us. I didn't think you loved me, not really, not like you used to, we were both stuck and I needed to do something before we ended up hating each other. But now, now I know, I love you, you are the love of my life and I want us to try again." Callie paused trying to control the shake in her voice. "Do you love me?"

"Callie" Arizona whispered "Oh God" she pulled out of Callie's grip and stumbled away from the table, shaking her head.

Callie's face dropped. She had called it wrong. She knew she loved Arizona and hoped that Arizona still loved her. Seeing her with that baby yesterday, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She wanted Arizona back, she wanted her family back. That's all that mattered to her.

"I can't Callie, I …"Arizona gulped.

Standing up and walking towards her, Callie said "I'm not giving up Arizona, I know this is sudden but I am going to fight for us. I just, I just need to know you still love me, because none of the rest matters"

Still shaking her head Arizona walked towards Callie "I can't lose you again Callie; you have to be sure you love me because I won't survive if you walk away, not again, I barely survived this." She cupped Callie's face in both her hands, stood on tip toes and placed the sweetest gentlest kiss on Callie's lips. Pulling back, she whispered "I love you so much" and sucked in a breath as the most magical smile spread across Callie's face. Callie pulled her close and pressed her lips to Arizona's, deepening it until both had to pause for breath.

"So are you going to sign the contract?" Callie asked

"We don't need it, we are not subordinates, I think we are okay" Arizona smiled

"Sign it anyway, I want us to be official" Callie asked, stealing a few more kisses

"You are so corny" Arizona laughed "but yes, yes Calliope, I would love to sign a love contract with you"


End file.
